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parthia (dict)
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ParthiaThe Parthian Empire was the dominating force on the Iranian plateau beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca 190 BC and 224 AD. Origins The Parthians were a member of the Parni tribe, a nomadic Iranian people thought to have spoken an Iranian language, who arrived at the Iranian plateau from Central Asia. They were consummate horsemen, known for the 'Parthian shot' turning backwards at full gallop to loose an arrow directly to the rear. Later, at the height of their power, Parthian influences reached as far as Ubar in Arabia, the nexus of the frankincense route, where Parthian-inspired ceramics have been found. The power of the early Parthian empire seems to have been overestimated by some ancient historians, who could not clearly separate the latter, very strong empire from its rather obscure origins. Little is known of the Parthians: they had no literature of their own and consequently their written history consists of biased descriptions of conflicts with Romans, Greeks, Jews and — at the far end of the Silk Road — the Chinese empire. Even their own name for themselves is up for debate due to a lack of domestic records; the best guess is that they called their empire Eranshahr. Their strength was a combination of the guerilla warfare of a mounted nomadic tribe with sufficient organisation to build a vast empire, even if it never matched the two Persian empires in strength. Vassal kingdoms seem to have made up a large part of their territory (see Tigranes II of Armenia), and Hellenistic cities enjoyed a certain autonomy; their craftsmen received employment by some Parthians (illustration, above left). The Parthian Empire Initially, a king named Arsaces (possibly of a nomad tribe named Parni, a name whose relation to the word Parthian is much debated, or according to Armenian sources of White Hun origins) made himself independent of Seleucid rule in remote areas of northern Iran ca 250 BC, where his descendants of the same name ruled until Antiochus III the Great briefly made them submit to the Seleucid empire again in 206 BC. It was not until the second century BC that the Parthians profited from the increasing Seleucid weakness and gradually captured all of their territories east of Syria. Once the Parthians had captured Herat, the movement of trade along the Silk Road to China was effectively choked off, and the post-Alexandrian Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was doomed. At its height, Parthia at one time occupied areas now in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaidzhan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel. It fell to the Seleucid monarchs to hold the line against the Parthians. Antiochus IV Epiphanes spent his last years fruitlessly battling the Parthians in the endless war, until he died in 163 BC. The Parthians were able to take advantage of Seleucid weakness during the dynastic squabbles that followed Antiochus' death. In 139 BC, the Parthian king Mithridates I captured the Seleucid monarch, Demetrius Nicator, and held him captive for ten years, while the Parthians overwhelmed Mesopotamia and Media. By 129 BC the Parthians were in control of all the lands right to the Tigris River, and established their winter encampment at Ctesiphon on the banks of the Tigris downstream from modern Baghdad. Ctesiphon was a small suburb directly across the river from Seleucia, the most populous Hellenistic city of western Asia. Seleucia they only harassed; they needed its wealth and trade, and the city preserved its independence and Greek culture. In the heat of the Mesopotamian summer, the Parthian horde would withdraw to the ancient Persian capitals of Susa and Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). Contacts with China The Chinese explorer Zhang Qian who visited the neighbouring countries of Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BC, made the first known Chinese report on Parthia. In his accounts Parthia is named "Anxi", a transliterations of "Arsacid", name of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identifies Parthia as an advanced urban civilization, which he equates to those of Dayuan (in Ferghana) and Daxia (in Bactria). - "Anxi is situated several thousand li west of the region of the Great Yuezhi (in Transoxonia). The people are settled on the land, cultivating the fields and growing rice and wheat. They also make wine out of grapes. They have walled cities like the people of Dayuan (Ferghana), the region contains several hundred cities of various sizes. The coins of the country are made of silver and bear the face of the king. When the king dies, the currency is immediately changed and new coins issued with the face of his successor. The people keep records by writing on horizontal strips of leather. To the west lies Tiaozi (Mesopotamia) and to the north Yancai and Lixuan (Hyrcania)." (Shiji, 123, Zhang Qian quote, trans. Burton Watson).
Following Zhang Qian' embassy and report, commercial relations between China and Central Asia and Parthia flourished, as many Chinese missions were sent throughout the 1st century BCE: "The largest of these embassies to foreign states numbered several hundred persons, while even the smaller parties included over 100 members... In the course of one year anywhere from five to six to over ten parties would be sent out." (Shiji, trans. Burton Watson). The Parthians were apparently very intent to maintain good relations with China and also sent their own embassies, starting around 110 BC: "When the Han envoy first visited the kingdom of Anxi (Parthia), the king of Anxi dispatched a party of 20,000 horsemen to meet them on the eastern border of the kingdom... When the Han envoys set out again to return to China, the king of Anxi dispatched envoys of his own to accompany them... The emperor was delighted at this." (Shiji, 123, trans. Burton Watson). In 97 AD the Chinese general Ban Chao went as far west as the Caspian Sea with 70,000 men and established direct military contacts with the Parthian Empire. Parthians also played a role in the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism from Central Asia to China. An Shih Kao, a Parthian nobleman and Buddhist missionary, went to the Chinese capital Loyang in 148 AD where he established temples and became the first man to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Conflicts with Rome In the 1st century BC, the Parthians intervened frequently in eastern Mediterranean politics from their capital at Ctesiphon. They clashed with the Romans, gaining respect when they managed to defeat the army of Roman general Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). Having established themselves across most of the old Persian Empire, the Parthians became arch-enemies of Rome, whose Eastern campaigns (for instance under Trajan and Septimius Severus) never crushed the resilient and somewhat de-centralized Parthian 'empire,' but bled capital from Rome. Expansion to India Main article:Indo-Parthian Kingdom
Also during the 1st century BCE, the Parthians started to make inroads into eastern territories that had been occupied by the Indo-Scythians and the Yuezhi. The Parthians ended up controlling all of Bactria and extensive territories in Northern Subcontinent, after fighting many local rulers such as the Kushan Empire ruler Kujula Kadphises,in the Gandhara region. Around 20 AD, Gondophares, one of the Parthian conquerors, declared his independence from the Parthian empire and established the Indo-Parthian Kingdom in the conquered territories. Decline In 224 AD, Ardashir, governor in the Achaemenid home province of Fars/Persis, overthrew Artabanus IV and established the Sassanid dynasty. After their defeat of the Parthians, at this point no doubt a thin stratum of nobles, seem to have vanished with few traces. Parthian rulers External link See also
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